Schoolchildren in danger from... sunscreen?

a reply to: verschickter

my nephew had severe asthma when he was young. he had many, many, painful testing to find out what was triggering his asthma..
my first point would be would be I wonder how long it would take to figure out that those painful blisters that are covering some poor kids hands is being caused by the second hand sunscreen that was left on that chair?
the other point I would like to make is that in my nephew's case, well, there was alot of things that were found cause a reaction... including the dirt in his back yard!!!
I have come to the conclusion that the only way to protect the kids would to put them into their own little bubbles!
we can't do that though, but I do think that removing these toxic chemicals from our environment more could help a little instead of just banning these toxic laden products from some areas of our world, like schools, restaurants, ect.
it seems that the kids now days have many more health issues than they did when I was a kid and and the toxins were sitting in the rivers and landfills instead of us bringing them into our homes and plastering them on our skin, and eating them in our food, drinking them in our water!

originally posted by: TheRedneck
a reply to: rickymouse

I would have to say that Sunscreen is bad for many people. I can see them regulating it's use in schools. Some kids are putting it on all the time, we need sunlight to complete a couple of metabolic processes. People are being steered to believe the sun is our enemy. It is to some people who have certain risk factors, but to the majority it isn't.

Our society has gone crazy with sunscreen. Many people put it on every day, even if they do not go outside most of the day. Then people are taking vitamin D supplements which require sun exposure to process, a process that is inhibited by sunscreen. Parents have been conditioned to believe in something that is not true. Yes, maybe ten percent of people need sunscreen but the rest of us don't.

I can't disagree with you... not a big sunscreen fan myself, like I said... but then again, can either of us say what is right for the woman or her daughter? Sunscreen is in common use, is readily available, is inexpensive, and does reduce the risk of sunburn. To treat it like a prescription medication is sorta over the top, don'cha think? Especially on a field trip?

TheRedneck

Some people I know will not let their kids go out to go to the bus stop without sunscreen. The parents have been led to believe something that is not true. My daughters have porphyria genes which make them react badly to sunlight, it causes a burning sensation on their skin and it can lead to cancer. I do not have the sun related issues, I am just a carrier of one copy. My wife also has issues with sun, she has another type which causes her to burn very easily, different than my daughters, but still it makes it so she cannot stay too long in the sunlight.

Even with these genes and some issues with exposure, none of them use sunscreen unless they are going to be in a place where they are in the sun for a while. This is one of the first things I checked for when we did the genetics, it turns out they are not overly concerned. But having this genetic condition is rare, the percentages of people having multiple homozygous snps is very small. My first wife is a carrier, I was a carrier. neither of us have sun problems. My second wife has problems in a type that I had no genes in so my second daughter does not have her problem. But my second wife had one copy of another one that I had one copy of so my daughter with her has a type of sun sensitivity different than either of us has.

No problem, they just need to use sun screen when they are outside and also must not eat a few foods that can cause problems with making blood properly. They can go outside for fifteen minutes in the sun without using sunscreen.

It seems that some in our society are spreading fear and a lot of people believe the fear without investigating whether it actually is a concern.

How along are kids outdoors for during a school day to even begin to worry about 'over exposure' from the sun?

I get the schools position, they don't want over reactionary kids steaming to the school office because ewww, got sunscreen in the eyes.

If you have problem with the sun, wear a brimmed hat, long sleeves and or stay in the shade.

If you're that sensitive stay indoors your whole life, get home schooled.

a reply to: dawnstar

I see the problem. I react to any kind of laundry softener with red itchy skin. Even if I can´t smell it I know half an hour later because it´s itchy. Now, should we ban the usage of cloth softeners, because through sweat it could get on chairs in the public and in contact with me? And while we are at it, what about sweating in public?

I´m not trying to ridicule you but want to show you, we can take this down a long road if we want. I don´t sit much around on public chairs though, by default so there´s this.

a reply to: verschickter

and, I have those nice blisters forming on my fingers at the present time, not really sure just what triggered it..
think it might be the scented toilet paper that I accidentally picked up, but I might be wrong.

but, it wouldn't surprise me to find out that whatever it is, it contains some of the same chemicals that are present in many of the things that I have found to trigger it... and, these chemicals weren't present in these products a half century ago.. we still had ways to soften the fabric of our clothes, ect..

it's the overuse of these chemicals that is the problem, not that parents want their kids protected from the sun or women wanting to smell pretty, or the desire of comfortable clothing to wear.

a reply to: dawnstar
not only overuse. Overprotecting. Kids have to eat some dirt sometimes, to build up a immune system. It´s no use to protect them from our environment, since we are supposed to live in.

I´m also questioning that sunscreener is really needed in school. Normally even the glas filters out a good portion, unless you have really old windows. I live in a more cloudy country so it might be different in hotter regions like for example Texas.

I´m white but the type who catches color very quickly and if I do not get visible/hurting sunburn during that short period of time, I´m basically safe in the sun from sunburn. Different skin types and pigmentation makes a huge difference.

I just showed this story to my friend with an elementary school aged kid. She laughed. I guess here not only is sunscreen allowed but teachers keep some for students for field trips on hot days and such. They also teach them not to use too much. Her kid's 7 and seems to be able to understand these concepts pretty well. There also doesn't sound like there's any complaints about 'second hand' sunscreen problems.

I personally don't use it and never got a sunburn until I got older. I still don't use it but I find the sun will burn me now. My friend and her kid are both fairly pale and burn badly though so her kid gets sent to school with it on hot days and she's never had any problems with her school.

a reply to: verschickter

That's exactly how I feel. We've gotten to the point where every little thing is regulated, over-regulated, and re-regulated. Regulations can't replace common sense.

I would be just as outraged if a regulation existed to require sunscreen use. I think a teacher keeping some on hand is probably a good idea, offering it a good idea, but anything more or less is a bad idea. People know their bodies better than anyone else... I actually told my doctor not long ago, "You know everything there is to know about how the human body works overall, but I have more experience using this one than you will ever hope to have."

He agreed with me. I think he had to, since I had healed myself through diet/supplements to no longer need a double bypass.

TheRedneck

originally posted by: intrptr
How along are kids outdoors for during a school day to even begin to worry about 'over exposure' from the sun?

I get the schools position, they don't want over reactionary kids steaming to the school office because ewww, got sunscreen in the eyes.

If you have problem with the sun, wear a brimmed hat, long sleeves and or stay in the shade.

If you're that sensitive stay indoors your whole life, get home schooled.

I think there is a line of common sense here. Unless a child is abnormally sensitive to the sun, then there shouldn't be much need for sunscreen for the average recess of 15 minutes or so.

My kid doesn't have sunscreen at school now that he's in Kindergarten.

They DID have it in pre-school and daycare because they took the kids outside and let them play for much longer periods. And if we are talking about longer exposure periods of 30 minutes or more, then the kids do need sunscreen at least to start out with to make sure they don't get burned. And nothing is worse than a sun-burned toddler.

And if we are talking about sending kids on a field trip to the zoo or local amusement park, then we are talking about a need for sunscreen at school. Most kids are pretty pasty after having spent a winter in school. That extra protection is just plain common sense.

a reply to: ketsuko

That extra protection is just plain common sense.

The school can't have kids applying stuff to their faces and bodies during school because of the liability. Its probably not even their decision but some hand em down Insurance corporation bureaucrats arbitrary mandate.

a reply to: intrptr

Interesting ... then how did the preschool/daycare our son went to get away with it?

And if you read, you'll note I was talking about special circumstances, not everyday occurrence.

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: intrptr

Interesting ... then how did the preschool/daycare our son went to get away with it?

And if you read, you'll note I was talking about special circumstances, not everyday occurrence.

Is your school in that district? I don't know how widespread it is either. They never tell the truth about these things. If its deemed a danger its probably for 'insurance reasons', most likely. Like they aren't turning schools into prisons to protect the children for every conceivable possible threat.

.02

a reply to: intrptr

Very possible, but then I ask:

Why are insurance executives making medical decisions for our kids?

TheRedneck

originally posted by: intrptr

originally posted by: ketsuko
a reply to: intrptr

Interesting ... then how did the preschool/daycare our son went to get away with it?

And if you read, you'll note I was talking about special circumstances, not everyday occurrence.

Is your school in that district? I don't know how widespread it is either. They never tell the truth about these things. If its deemed a danger its probably for 'insurance reasons', most likely. Like they aren't turning schools into prisons to protect the children for every conceivable possible threat.

.02

Mine isn't, but I'd like to know what they do when a kid comes home blistered raw after a day long field trip to the zoo and they get sued over that one.

a reply to: TheRedneck

I'd be withdrawing my kids from that school! Sunscreen is now a medication?!?!? What, they want the kids to get skin cancer? Sheesh, we used to share cough drops when I was a kid, and NO ONE cared! No one, not the teachers the other school officials, the parents, literally no one gave it a second thought. Now, they can't have sunscreen at school?

originally posted by: dawnstar
a reply to: verschickter

my nephew had severe asthma when he was young. he had many, many, painful testing to find out what was triggering his asthma..
my first point would be would be I wonder how long it would take to figure out that those painful blisters that are covering some poor kids hands is being caused by the second hand sunscreen that was left on that chair?
*snip*

You just can't regulate everything to which someone might be allergic. My older son has a metal sensitivity, just as his grandmother did. In the two years he spent in public schools, we had real problems determining this, and he frequently had a rash on his legs. Plastic seats, but a little metal stud. We didn't demand the school replace all the chairs; we simply sent a towel for him to sit on, which resolved the problem.

originally posted by: TheRedneck
I love the stuff (and being a redneck, I can eat stuff that would make a shark gag and a billy goat puke).

HA. That got me through a number of survival oriented schools - it's a plus.

originally posted by: TheRedneck

He agreed with me. I think he had to, since I had healed myself through diet/supplements to no longer need a double bypass.

Interestingly enough (csb!) there is a way to clean your pipes, so to speak, that works but is "hidden" by being ignored by mainstream medicine. Not that there isn't real research that shows it works - there is - but it's not insanely profitable, and isn't patentable, and artificially derived versions of it tend to be lethal.

Thus, the usual 'change a few molecules and we can patent it' thing didn't work out the first six or seven attempts, and it's not something you can ingest, so it's like the crazy uncle, it just isn't discussed and doesn't show up in the lit. A major drug company put quite a bit of research into it decades ago, couldn't make a patentable version, couldn't make a pill out of it, and sadly, once done a couple of times, it's decades before you need the next go. So into the crapper it went.

The only safe sunscreen is the mineral based Badger brand.
It does leave you looking a little white but better than getting skin cancer from UV
or cancer from the chemicals and nano-particles in commercial sunscreens.

a reply to: LadyGreenEyes

We didn't demand the school replace all the chairs; we simply sent a towel for him to sit on, which resolved the problem.

*gasp* Common sense? How dare you!

Maybe I'm just not 'hip' (or whatever it's called now), but in my day we didn't worry about stuff like this. Heck, I remember when one particularly attractive girl was diagnosed with mononucleosis... the 'kissing disease' as it was called. Quite a few of us boys volunteered to contract it in support of her.

Today, there would be CDC guys in hazmat suits scouring the halls while everyone else huddled in terror, it seems.

TheRedneck